About three weeks ago, as
the federal government shut down, the Affordable Care Act’s health
insurance marketplaces opened for business across the country. Well,
we’ve now gotten the government back open for the American people, and
today I want to talk about how we’re going to get the marketplaces
running at full steam, as well. And I’m joined today by folks who have
either benefited from the Affordable Care Act already, or who are
helping their fellow citizens learn about what this law means for them
and how they can get covered.

Of course, you’ve probably
heard that HealthCare.gov
-- the new website where people can apply for
health insurance, and browse and buy affordable plans in most states --
hasn't worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work. And the number of
people who have visited the site has been overwhelming, which has
aggravated some of these underlying problems.

Despite all that, thousands
of people are signing up and saving money as we speak. Many Americans
with a preexisting condition, like Janice, are discovering that they can
finally get health insurance like everybody else.

So today, I want to speak to
every American who’s looking to get affordable health insurance. I want
you to know what’s available to you and why it may be a good deal for
you. And for those who’ve had some problems with the website, I want to
tell you what we’re doing to make it work better and how you can sign up
to get covered in other ways.

But before I do that, let me
remind everybody that the Affordable Care Act is not just a website.
It's much more. For the vast majority of Americans -- for 85 percent of
Americans who already have health insurance through your employer or
Medicare or Medicaid -- you don’t need to sign up for coverage through a
website at all. You've already got coverage. What the Affordable Care
Act does for you is to provide you with new benefits and protections
that have been in place for some time. You may not know it, but you're
already benefiting from these provisions in the law.

For example, because of the
Affordable Care Act, young people like Jasmine Jennings, and Jessica
Ugalde, and Ezra Salop, all of whom are here today, they’ve been able to
stay on their parents’ plans until they’re 26. Millions of other young
people are currently benefiting from that part of the law. Another part of the Affordable Care Act is providing seniors with deeper
discounts on their prescription medicine. Billions of dollars have been
saved by seniors already. That’s part of the law. It’s already in
place. It’s happening right now.

Already, because of the
Affordable Care Act, preventive care like mammograms and birth control
are free through your employers. That’s part of this law.
So there are a wide range of consumer protections and benefits that you
already have if you’ve got health insurance. You may not have noticed
them, but you’ve got them, and they’re not going anywhere. And they’re
not dependent on a website.

Here’s another thing that
the Affordable Care Act does. In states where governors and
legislatures have wisely allowed it, the Affordable Care Act provides
the opportunity for many Americans to get covered under Medicaid for the
first time. So in Oregon, for example, that’s helped cut the number of
uninsured people by 10 percent just in the last three weeks. Think
about that. That’s 56,000 more Americans who now have health care.
That doesn’t depend on a website.

Now, if you’re one of the 15
percent of Americans who don’t have health insurance -- either because
you can’t afford it or because your employer doesn’t offer it, or
because you’re a small businessperson and you have to go out on the
individual market and buy it on your own and it’s just too expensive --
October 1st was an important date. That’s when we opened the new
marketplaces where people without health insurance, or who can’t afford
health insurance, or who aren’t part of a group plan, can finally start
getting affordable coverage.

And the idea is simple. By
enrolling in what we’re calling these marketplaces, you become part of a
big group plan -- as if you were working for a big employer -- a
statewide group plan that spreads risk between sick people and healthy
people, between young and old, and then bargains on your behalf for the
best deal on health care. What we’ve done is essentially create a
competition where there wasn’t competition before. We created these big
group plans, and now insurers are really interested in getting your
business. And so insurers have created new health care plans with more
choices to be made available through these marketplaces.

And as a result of this
choice and this competition, prices have come down. When you add the
new tax credits that many people are eligible for through the law, then
the prices come down even further. So one study shows that through new
options created by the Affordable Care Act, nearly 6 in 10 uninsured
Americans will find that they can get covered for less than $100 a
month. Think about that.

Through the marketplaces,
you can get health insurance for what may be the equivalent of your cell
phone bill or your cable bill, and that’s a good deal.

So the fact is the product
of the Affordable Care Act for people without health insurance is
quality health insurance that’s affordable. And that product is
working. It’s really good. And it turns out there’s a massive demand
for it. So far, the national website,HealthCare.gov, has been visited
nearly 20 million times. Twenty million times. And
there’s great demand at the state level as well, because there are a
bunch of states that are running their own marketplaces.

We know that nearly
one-third of the people applying in Connecticut and Maryland, for
example, are under 35 years old. They understand that they can get a
good deal at low costs, have the security of health care, and this is
not just for old folks like me -- that everybody needs good quality
health insurance. And all told, more than half a million consumers
across the country have successfully submitted applications through
federal and state marketplaces. And many of those applications aren’t
just for individuals, it’s for their entire families. So even more
people are already looking to potentially take advantage of the high
quality, affordable insurance that is provided through the Affordable
Care Act.

So let me just recap here.
The product is good. The health insurance that’s being provided is
good. It’s high quality and it’s affordable. People can save money,
significant money, by getting insurance that’s being provided through
these marketplaces. And we know that the demand is there. People are
rushing to see what’s available. And those who have already had a
chance to enroll are thrilled with the result. Every day, people who
were stuck with sky-high premiums because of preexisting conditions are
getting affordable insurance for the first time, or finding, like Janice
did, that they’re saving a lot of money. Every day, women are finally
buying coverage that doesn’t charge them higher premiums than men for
the same care. Every day, people are discovering that new
health insurance plans have to cover maternity care, mental health care,
free preventive care.

So you just heard Janice’s
story -- she owns her own small business. She recently became the first
woman to enroll in coverage through Delaware’s exchange. And it’s true,
it took her a few tries, but it was worth it after being turned down for
insurance three times due to minor preexisting conditions. So now
she’ll be covered, she’ll save 150 bucks a month, and she won’t have to
worry that one illness or accident will cost her her business that she’s
worked so hard to build.

And Janice is not alone. I
recently received a letter from a woman named Jessica Sanford in
Washington State. And here’s what she wrote: “I am a single mom, no
child support, self-employed, and I haven’t had insurance for 15 years
because it’s too expensive. My son has ADHD and requires regular doctor
visits and his meds alone cost $250 per month. I have had an ongoing
tendinitis problem due to my line of work that I haven’t had treated.
Now, finally, we get to have coverage because of the ACA for $169 per
month. I was crying the other day when I signed up. So much stress
lifted.”

Now, that is not untypical
for a lot of folks like Jessica who have been struggling without health
insurance. That’s what the Affordable Care Act is all about. The point
is, the essence of the law -- the health insurance that’s available to
people -- is working just fine. In some cases, actually, it’s exceeding
expectations -- the prices are lower than we expected, the choice is
greater than we expected.

But the problem has been
that the website that’s supposed to make it easy to apply for and
purchase the insurance is not working the way it should for everybody.
And there’s no sugarcoating it. The website has been too slow, people
have been getting stuck during the application process. And I think
it’s fair to say that nobody is more frustrated by that than I am --
precisely because the product is good, I want the cash registers to
work. I want the checkout lines to be smooth. So I want people to be
able to get this great product. And there’s no excuse for the problems,
and these problems are getting fixed.

But while we’re working out
the kinks in the system, I want everybody to understand the nature of
the problem. First of all, even with all the problems at
HealthCare.gov,
the website is still working for a lot of people -- just not as quick or
efficient or consistent as we want. And although many of these folks
have found that they had to wait longer than they wanted, once they
complete the process they’re very happy with the deal that’s available
to them, just like Janice’s.

Second, I want everybody to
remember that we’re only three weeks into a six-month open enrollment
period, when you can buy these new plans. Keep in mind the
insurance doesn’t start until January 1st; that’s the earliest that the
insurance can kick in. No one who decides to purchase a plan has to pay
their first premium until December 15th. And unlike the day after
Thanksgiving sales for the latest Playstation or flat-screen TVs, the
insurance plans don’t run out. They’re not going to sell out. They’ll
be available through the marketplace -- throughout the
open enrollment period. The prices that insurers have set will not
change. So everybody who wants insurance through the marketplace will
get insurance, period. Everybody who wants insurance
through the marketplace will get insurance.

Third, we are doing
everything we can possibly do to get the websites working better,
faster, sooner. We’ve got people working overtime, 24/7, to boost
capacity and address the problems. Experts from some of America’s top
private-sector tech companies who, by the way, have seen things like
this happen before, they want it to work. They're reaching out.
They're offering to send help. We’ve had some of the best IT talent in
the entire country join the team. And we’re well into a “tech surge” to
fix the problem. And we are confident that we will get all the problems
fixed.

Number four -- while the
website will ultimately be the easiest way to buy insurance through the
marketplace, it isn’t the only way. And I want to emphasize this. Even
as we redouble our efforts to get the site working as well as it’s
supposed to, we’re also redoubling our efforts to make sure you can
still buy the same quality, affordable insurance plans available on the
marketplace the old-fashioned way -- offline, either over the phone or
in person.

And, by the way, there are a
lot of people who want to take advantage of this who are more
comfortable working on the phone anyway or in person. So let me go
through the specifics as to how you can do that if you’re having
problems with the website or you just prefer dealing with a person.

Yesterday, we updated the
website’s home page to offer more information about the other avenues to
enroll in affordable health care until the online option works for
everybody. So you’ll find information about how to talk to a specialist
who can help you apply over the phone or to receive a downloadable
application you can fill out yourself and mail in.

We’ve also added more staff
to the call centers where you can apply for insurance over the phone.
Those are already -- they've been working. But a lot of people have
decided first to go to the website. But keep in mind, these call
centers are already up and running. And you can get your questions
answered by real people, 24 hours a day, in 150 different languages.
The phone number for these call centers is 1-800-318-2596. I want to
repeat that -- 1-800-318-2596. Wait times have averaged less than one
minute so far on the call centers, although I admit that the wait times
probably might go up a little bit now that I've read the number out loud
on national television.

But the point is the call
centers are available. You can talk to somebody directly and they can
walk you through the application process. And I guarantee you, if one
thing is worth the wait, it’s the safety and security of health care
that you can afford, or the amount of money that you can save by buying
health insurance through the marketplaces.

Once you get on the phone
with a trained representative, it usually takes about 25 minutes for an
individual to apply for coverage, about 45 minutes for a family. Once
you apply for coverage, you will be contacted by email or postal mail
about your coverage status.

But you don't have to just
go through the phone. You can also apply in person with the help of
local navigators -– these are people specially trained to help you sign
up for health care, and they exist all across the country, or you can go
to community health centers and hospitals. Just visit
LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov to find out where in your area you can get help
and apply for insurance in person.

And finally, if you’ve
already tried to apply through the website and you’ve been stuck
somewhere along the way, do not worry. In the coming weeks, we will
contact you directly, personally, with a concrete recommendation for how
you can complete your application, shop for coverage, pick a plan that
meets your needs, and get covered once and for all.

So here’s the bottom line.
The product, the health insurance is good. The prices are good. It is
a good deal. People don’t just want it; they’re showing up to buy it.
Nobody is madder than me about the fact that the website isn’t working
as well as it should, which means it’s going to get fixed.

And in the meantime, you can
bypass the website and apply by phone or in person. So don’t let
problems with the website deter you from signing up, or signing your
family up, or showing your friends how to sign up, because it is worth
it. It will save you money. If you don't have health insurance, if
you’ve got a preexisting condition, it will save you money and it will
give you the security that your family needs.

In fact, even with the
website issues, we’ve actually made the overall process of buying
insurance through the marketplace a lot smoother and easier than the old
way of buying insurance on your own. Part of the challenge here is that
a lot of people may not remember what it’s like to buy insurance the
traditional way.

The way we’ve set it up,
there are no more absurdly long application forms. There’s no medical
history questionnaire that goes on for pages and pages. There’s no more
getting denied because you’ve had a preexisting condition. Instead of
contacting a bunch of different insurers one at a time, which is what
Janice and a lot of people who are shopping on the individual market for
health insurance had to do, there’s one single place you can go shop and
compare plans that have to compete for your business. There’s one
single phone number you can call for help. And once the kinks in the
website have been ironed out, it will be an even smoother and even
easier. But in the meantime, we will help you sign up -- because
consumers want to buy this product and insurance companies want to sell
it to you.

Now, let me close by
addressing some of the politics that have swirled around the Affordable
Care Act. I recognize that the Republican Party has made blocking the
Affordable Care Act its signature policy idea. Sometimes it seems to be
the one thing that unifies the party these days. In fact,
they were willing to shut down the government and potentially harm the
global economy to try to get it repealed. And I’m sure that given the
problems with the website so far, they’re going to be looking to go
after it even harder. And let's admit it -- with the website not
working as well as it needs to work, that makes a lot of supporters
nervous because they know how it's been subject to so much attack, the
Affordable Care Act generally.

But I just want to remind
everybody, we did not wage this long and contentious battle just around
a website. That’s not what this was about. We waged this
battle to make sure that millions of Americans in the wealthiest nation
on Earth finally have the same chance to get the same security of
affordable quality health care as anybody else. That’s what this is
about. And the Affordable Care Act has done that.

People can now get good
insurance. People with preexisting conditions can now afford
insurance. And if the launch of this website proves anything, it’s that
people across the country don’t just need that security, they want that
security. They want it. And in the meantime -- I’ve said
many times -- I’m willing to work with anyone on any idea to make this
law perform even better. But it’s time for folks to stop rooting for
its failure, because hardworking, middle-class families are rooting for
its success. And if the product is good, they're willing
to be patient.

I got a letter last week
from a self-employed man named John Mier in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania. He
used the new marketplace to get himself and his wife covered and save a
lot of money. And here’s what he said, because it pretty much sums up
my message today: “Yes, the website really stank for the first week.”
“But instead of paying $1,600 per month for a group
insurance plan, we have a plan that will only cost us $692 a month -- a
savings of $900 per month.” John said that while he saw --
when he saw what they’d be paying, he turned to his wife and told her,
"We might just pull through. We can afford this." And John eventually
predicted that "the website will work like a champ."

So John, he was frustrated
by the website, but he's feeling a little less frustrated once he found
out that he was saving 900 bucks a month on his health insurance.
And John is right, the website is going to get fixed and
the law works. That's why we fought so hard to pass this law -- to save
folks like John money; to give people who don't have health insurance
the chance to get it for the first time; to lift from the American
people the crushing burden of unaffordable health care; to free families
from the pervasive fear that one illness -- [on-stage female audience
member appears to losing consciousness]1 -- there you go, you are ok. I'm right here. I got you. No, no -- you're okay. This happens when I talk too long.
You'll be okay. Here, why don't you go.

Good catch, by the way,
whoever was here.

But that's always our goal,
to free families from the pervasive fear that one illness or one injury
might cost you everything that you dedicated a lifetime to build. Our
goal has always been to declare that in this country the security of
health care is not a privilege for a fortunate few. It's a right for
all to enjoy. That's what the Affordable Care Act is all
about. That's its promise. And I intend to deliver on that promise.